"Devil Fruit users…"
Hearing Garp's words, a trace of interest appeared on Roya's face. Although he was extremely familiar with many Devil Fruit abilities, ever since coming to this world, he had yet to personally witness the power of a Devil Fruit even once.
And whenever Devil Fruits were mentioned, Roya could not help but think of Haki, so he directly asked Garp about Haki training.
"Haki?"
Garp pondered briefly, then said, "Hmm. At your current level, you've basically gained the qualifications to begin Haki training. However, you'll be entering the elite camp very soon. When that time comes, Zephyr will teach you."
With only a few days remaining before the all-camp combat assessment, there clearly wasn't enough time for Roya to train Haki. Moreover, Roya had only just barely met the prerequisites.
Garp felt there was no need to force-feed Roya Haki training methods over these last few days.
"That works."
Roya also knew that Haki was not something that could be mastered overnight.
"Then use these few days to properly adjust yourself."
After nodding, Garp turned and left, leaving Roya standing alone in the courtyard.
Before long, Roya resumed his sword pressure training, intending to perfect four-slash fusion within these remaining days and then attempt five-slash fusion.
This slash-merging training method became increasingly difficult the further one progressed—but the improvement it brought was also far greater.
If one could reach ten-slash fusion, then among master swordsman, they would no longer be considered weak. And if one could train to fifteen-slash fusion, then even across the entire sea, they would be among the very top tier of master swordsman.
---
Several days later.
A ray of morning light rippled outward from the horizon like a golden wave, instantly spreading across the sky and gently lifting the curtain of night from the world.
Roya was already awake, standing in the courtyard.
Chi!!
Suddenly, his sword flashed. In an instant, it was as though he had swung several times at once—yet the shadows and trajectories of those slashes seemed to overlap perfectly.
Whoosh!!
In the next moment, a silver-white sword energy burst forth, striking the ground at an angle from Roya's sword tip. Amid flying dirt, it instantly carved out a deep trench that extended nearly seven meters.
"Five-slash fusion is indeed still a bit difficult. But now that four slashes can be perfectly fused, relying solely on sword energy strength is already enough to cut through steel."
After nodding slightly at the result of his strike, Roya sheathed his sword and muttered to himself, "It's time to go. That all-camp combat assessment should be starting…"
---
The training regimen of the Marine Headquarters recruit camp consisted not only of physical conditioning, but also various miscellaneous tests—such as strength tests, speed tests, and shooting evaluations.
Combat assessments were likewise a regular training format, typically held once every quarter or every six months.
However, under normal circumstances, combat assessments were conducted separately within each squad, supervised and evaluated by their respective instructors. It was rare for the entire camp to be gathered together for a full-scale combat assessment.
This was because combat assessments involved direct duels between recruits. The greater the number of participants, the more matches would be required. With ten squads in the regular camp, conducting internal squad assessments was far more efficient.
This time, however, was a long-unseen all-camp combat assessment.
Aside from the elite camp—which did not participate—all ten squads of the regular camp would be gathered together.
When Roya arrived at the plaza where the all-camp combat assessment was to be held, a large number of recruits had already assembled. Some radiated killing intent, others cracked their knuckles, eager to try their hand.
The recruits were gathered along three sides of the plaza. On the remaining side stood the instructors of the regular camp, and… the chief instructor of the recruitment camp—the former Marine Admiral, Zephyr.
The Marine Headquarters elite training camp did not train ordinary soldiers—it trained future officers. As such, it did not place special emphasis on teamwork, but rather focused more on the individual.
What Zephyr observed were the recruits who would soon be selected for the elite camp. As for the regular camp instructors, they observed those recruits who performed well aside from the elite-camp candidates, tailoring more suitable individualized training plans for them.
The very center of the plaza was the battlefield for the combat assessment.
Roya's arrival was unremarkable among the crowd of recruits and drew no particular attention. Besides him, other recruits were also arriving one after another.
Seeing that nearly everyone had arrived, Zephyr, standing before the instructors, nodded slightly and spoke in a deep voice.
"Time's up. Silence."
Zephyr's voice was not especially thunderous, but it was full and powerful. Its clarity carried an inherent authority that caused all recruits present to unconsciously straighten and grow solemn.
"You've all experienced combat assessments before. However, this time it is an all-camp assessment. The people you may challenge are no longer limited to members of your own squad—you may challenge anyone in the regular camp who ranks above you!"
Zephyr calmly explained the rules while surveying the recruits.
The rules of this all-camp combat assessment were similar to the squad-based assessments held every six months. Rankings were based on the results of the previous assessment. Recruits with lower rankings could challenge any recruit ranked above them.
If the challenger lost, rankings remained unchanged. If the challenger won, the two would swap rankings.
This would continue until no one initiated further challenges. The resulting rankings would be the final outcome of the assessment.
The restrictions were as follows: firearms were prohibited; higher-ranked recruits could not challenge lower-ranked ones; only lower-ranked recruits could challenge higher-ranked ones. Challenges could not be refused or avoided unless a recruit was injured and unable to continue.
"This all-camp combat assessment will use the rankings from the previous practical combat assessment as its foundation. You should already know your squad rankings from last time. Now, the overall camp rankings will be announced."
At this point, Zephyr gestured slightly to a Marine Rear Admiral standing beside him.
The Rear Admiral nodded and immediately stepped forward, projecting a list onto the massive wall of Marine Headquarters' fortress behind the recruits.
The number of recruits in the Marine Headquarters camp was not particularly large. Even those in the regular camp would almost certainly become non-commissioned officers at minimum, and after further experience, most would rise to the rank of lieutenant or even commander.
They were the backbone of the Marines.
Because the numbers were small—and because the list was projected onto the enormous fortress wall—the rankings were instantly clear at a glance.
This was the overall camp ranking, and many recruits were curious about how the last practical combat assessment had ranked everyone.
Naturally, the most eye-catching part was the names at the very top.
Overall Camp Ranking – Practical Combat Assessment:
1st Place … Roya
2nd Place … Hina
3rd Place … Drake
4th Place … Kazan
…
"Roya? Who's that?! He's first in the entire camp?"
"Monkey D. Roya… Monkey… that surname sounds familiar. Wait—doesn't that belong to the Marine hero, Vice Admiral Garp?!"
The moment they saw the name ranked first, many recruits wore expressions of shock and disbelief.
Roya had virtually no reputation within the recruit camp. He had only joined three months ago, and for two of those months, he hadn't even been present. During the single month he did attend, his performance had been fairly average. Naturally, recruits from other squads didn't know him at all.
However, while recruits from other squads didn't recognize Roya, those from his own squad were a different story.
"Roya isn't just first in the squad—he's first in the entire camp?!"
"What kind of joke is this?"
"Being first in the squad was already ridiculous enough. First in the whole camp… heh, isn't this a bit too blatant? Do they think we're all blind?"
The recruits from Roya's squad sneered coldly as they stared at the rankings.
This time, most recruits merely sneered inwardly. No one raised objections aloud, because there was no need.
The combat assessment was about to begin. Truth could not be hidden forever—any manipulation of results would be exposed soon enough.